Please note: RockboxUtility looks similar on all supported operating systems. This means all buttons are at the same location, the used icons are identical and so forth. The appearance is depending on the graphical view of your operating system -- on windows it'll use the typical windows appearance, while on Linux it'll use the settings of your graphical environment (side note: as RockboxUtility uses Qt 4 this depends on your Qt configuration which might not be identical to your graphical environment). There is no functional difference between the versions for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Minor graphical differences are due to the system it runs on.

Starting RockboxUtility

First, start RockboxUtility. If you have never used it before you'll get a configuration error. This is normal as you haven't configured RockboxUtility for your player yet. If you haven't connected your player to the PC do this now. Make sure the player appears on the PC, on windows it needs to get a drive letter assigned. On linux and OS X make sure the player is mounted. If the Utility can't find the player is linux, try running it as root. If you have multiple players please disconnect all but the one you're trying to install.

Configuring RockboxUtility

The configuration window opens. Press the "Autodetect" button to make Rockbox Utility try to detect your player. If a supported player is found you will get the mountpoint value (Windows: drive letter) set to the correct path (Windows: drive letter) and the detected player will be hilighted in the device selection dialog. Please do not select the player manually unless detecting your player doesn't work (in that case you'll get a dialog telling you so). Some players have similar model names but are in fact completely different hardware (for example, Ipod 2G vs. Ipod Nano 2G, or Sansa e200 vs. Sansa e200v2).

Note:when autodetection doesn't work make sure your player is connected properly and has a drive letter assigned. Also, make sure you have appropriate permissions to access the player. Ipod and Sansa e200 and c200 players require you to have administrator permissions.

If you need to select your player manually (again, please try automatic detection first) you need to choose the correct mountpoint (Windows: drive letter) from the dropdown list and the correct player. The dropdown list will show additional information when expanded to help you to identify the correct player.

If you're behind a proxy you might need to change more settings using the "Proxy" tab. Also, you can configure other functionality now. As this isn't required for installation we don't cover this here.

When finished with configuration close the configuration dialog using the "Ok" button.

Main Window

The main window of RockboxUtility appears. You can now choose from the tabs on the bottom which action you want to perform.

For a first install you most likely want to use one of the two buttons on the "Quick Start" tab. Make your choice between "Complete Install" and "Small Install" and press the button. You will get a notice that the installation methods from the "Quick Start" tab will install the latest release. Usually there are more current builds available. It is safe to install a release at first, if you want to update to a more current build later you need to use the installation button from the "Installation" tab. After confirming the message a progress dialog will appear. Now you just need to wait until all the parts are installed.

Note: The "Quick Start" installation method is only intended for a first time installation. You can update Rockbox separately later by using the "Installation" tab, updating the bootloader is rarely necessary (Note: not all players require a bootloader. If the Bootloader button in the Installation tab is greyed out you don't need to install a bootloader.)

When installation is finished the "Abort" button on the log window changes to "Ok". Press "Ok" and the log window will close. Safely eject (windows) / unmount (linux / OS X) your player. Installation is now almost finished.

Finishing Installation

Important: after installation you need to reboot your player. Make sure you "safely ejected" your player using your PCs "safely eject" button (unmount on linux / OS X). After the bootloader has been installed you might get a dialog box telling you about additional steps you need to perform, it is important that you now do these steps as otherwise Rockbox won't boot. Please also refer to the Manual for details.

Finished

Congratulations, you've made it! Please check the Manual for further instructions, and before asking for help. You'll more likely get much better help if you search it first. Besides, Rockbox Utility can download and display the manual -- check the "Manual" tab.